Come and See

Posted on Aug 31, 2023 by Bev Friedlander in BLOG | Tags: , ,

 Turn Around

“Repent!” shouts the street preacher. And every commercial you skip on TV or pay to avoid. The process of selling us products begins by telling us our lives are not enough, we are not enough. If only we had…. Just $9.99 in this special offer. Whether it is a new diet and exercise plan or the latest model SUV, advertisers know the pursuit of happiness means keeping up with the imagined lives of the Jones’ or superstars we fawn over in our consumer-based society.

This mentality fades over into the invitation we offer to others when we do evangelism. “Come and see,” what Jesus is all about too often becomes the Church trying to scare people into heaven. “Repent! Save yourselves—confess and God will forgive!” I think that’s why Presbyterians have so much trouble inviting friends to participate in church activities—we aren’t fearful. We are full of grace. And that is not easy to “sell.”

 Come and See

Jesus says simply, “Follow me.” His first friends said, “We found him, come and see.” No fear of God, no threats of hell, no damned if you don’t. Just, “come and see.”

This month we begin a new series of Christian Formation, of discipleship study, called, “Follow Me.” There is one unit that reflects on confession as a spiritual practice (coming in November). All the other units are about the breadth of practices in church life and life beyond our worship gatherings that help us see Jesus everywhere.

The word repent means, “turn around.” If our lives too often take us in directions that are unfulfilling, or leave us wanting something more meaningful, perhaps we can turn around, and learn together more about what Jesus invites us to “come and see.”

I’m pretty sure it will include friendship rather than fear, food rather than faultfinding, and a fresh wind of the holy. I wonder, how did you complete that thought? What do you need the Spirit to refresh in you, around you, with a breath of life?

Maybe you will come and see what Jesus has in mind. See you Sunday?

Peace, RevBev
Image:  Art4TheGlryOfGod by Sharon under Creative Commons license, https://www.flickr.com/photos/19741842@N05/8478936903

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It’s been a week…

Posted on Mar 30, 2023 by Bev Friedlander in BLOG | Tags: , , , ,

Friends:
It’s been a week. No, several. It’s been a month of …days when all hell has been breaking loose and ripping apart neighborhoods, schools, families, nations, lives.
What are you seeking? This Lenten season’s theme has asked us:
is this the fast I choose; who will you listen to; how do we begin again; will you give me a drink; who sinned; and can these bones live.
The Questions of the Week

We have been willing to confront the difficult days, challenging ideas, and looming death. Nevertheless, our world continu#silencedes to spiral in chaos. This week the question is, “Where are you headed?” I’m not sure if the question is meant for us to consider about our lives, because I have only been able to ask that question of Jesus over the last couple of weeks. I have been at a loss for words. I have felt silenced in the face of all that is so messed up.

 The Way for Those Who are Seeking
Sunday I will head out with Jesus I suppose, with all my questions about where we’re going and whether we will find any peace on the way. We’ll walk the road of hosanna strewn palm branches and off into the middday sun of Christ’s passion and his descent into death. I think some, many, of us have gone ahead of him and wonder if he can find us there. We need Christ’s light. We need to be a light. 
 
If it’s been a hard week for you, you are not alone in wondering where your life is headed or for asking, where is God. We may not have the answer but we do not need to go alone.
 
Come Sunday, join together at least, so that if nothing else, we are not blind and  alone in the silencing powers of destruction. Maybe there is a way in the wilderness that leads to new life, if we can make it to tomorrow.
Peace,
Beverly
   

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